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Transcript of USP Magazine July 12
JULY 2012USP
SPOTYA 2012Heatons turns up the heat
HITTING THE BOOKSThe state of traditional presentation products
LIVE ITHow to spend itTh
ink tw
ice ab
out o
utsou
rcing
COLD CALLING
THE EDITOR’S LETTER
Welcome to the July edition of USP magazine. We hope this issue finds you in as good
of spirits as a drizzly summer will allow. With a summer of sport upon us, this is your
chance to sell like a champion and get Britain buying British and using their friendly
local office supplies dealer to do so.
In this issue, we go back to basics. First, we take a look at the market for quality
books and pads (p5) to find out where the opportunities exist for dealers. Also, don’t
forget to check out page 10 where we discuss the down-side to outsourcing those
necessary cold calls.
As the world begins to descend on London for the 2012 Olympics, the editorial
team at USP wishes you all an exciting and safe July. And as always, please get in
touch with any news stories or updates on [email protected].
JULIA DENNISON
Managing editor
USP magazine is published by...Intelligent Media Solutions | Suite 223 | Business Design Centre | 52 Upper Street, London N1 0QHtel: 0207 288 6833 | fax: 0207 288 6834 | email: [email protected] | web: www.uspmagazine.com
Follow USP on Twitter at Twitter.com/uspmagazinePrinted in the UK by Buxton Press www.buxtonpress.co.uk
MANAGING EDITORJULIA DENNISON | [email protected]
EDITORBILLY TAYLOR | [email protected]
REPORTERGEORGE CAREY | [email protected]
PUBLISHERVICKI BALOCH | [email protected]
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER – MEDIA SOLUTIONSMATTHEW MOORE | [email protected]
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE – MEDIA SOLUTIONSKRYSTLE DAVIS | [email protected]
DESIGNERSARAH CHIVERS | [email protected]
DESIGNER ,PRODUCTIONPETER HOPE-PARRY | [email protected]
CIRCULATIONS MANAGERNATALIA JOHNSTON | [email protected]
USP
CONTENTS
NEWS03 PITCH INVADERSThe latest news and products to help you deliver that perfect sales pitch
MARKETPLACE 05 BOOKS. PADS, AND ACCOUNTING The current market on quality books and pads
HIGH ROLLERS08 SPOTYA 2012Heatons turn up the heat
SALES ACADEMY10 COLD CALLINGThe downside to outsourcing
LIVE IT12 HOW TO SPEND ITThe latest film, music and technology to spend your commission on
12
PITCH INVADERSAll the products and developments you need to deliver the perfect sales pitch
PRODUCT Media Sciences a brand of Katun Corp, is offering free
samples plus sales incentives to all UK dealers as part of the launch
of the new HP colour compatible toners range. “Dealers are holding
promo days offering the ‘try before you buy’ free samples of our new
range of HP colour compatible toners and some dealers have got over
20 customers, many of
them national companies,
testing our new products,”
says Katun’s Richard
Betts. With no reduction
in product quality or
performance and
providing high dealer
margins. Call Katun’s
Richard Betts on 07738
642507 or Mark Brown
on 07780 833190 to find
out more and benefit
from this free
programme today.
NEWS Two new Sennheiser headsets in its wired Circle Series are
compliant with key collaboration solutions from Avaya, a global provider of
business collaboration systems, software and services. The company says
the headsets are designed to improvie efficiency and creating comfortable
working environments.
“Membership in the Avaya DevConnect program provides a unique
opportunity to offer our joint customers a rich communications
experience based on a tested and compatible solution,” says Lars Riis
Rasmussen, strategic alliance manager for Sennheiser Communications.
“Being a central element in a voice communications solution, the
Sennheiser Communications
headsets provide leadership in
sound quality, comfort and hearing
protection for contact centres,
offices and unified communications
professionals.”
Sennheiser is a technology
partner in the Avaya DevConnect
program — an initiative to develop,
market and sell third-party products
that interoperate with Avaya
technology and extend the value of a
company’s investment in its network.
SENNHEISER HEADSETS RATED ‘AVAYA COMPLIANT’
DEALERS DAZZLE ON PROMO DAYS WITH MEDIA SCIENCES FREE SAMPLE CAMPAIGN
PROTECT YOUR DATA WITH 256 BIT ENCRYPTION
PRODUCT Olympus claims its digital dictation is now even more secure
with 256 bit encryption available for professional dictation products.
Digital dictation allows you to secure your voice files via technology
such as 4-digit PIN and encryption to prevent unauthorised access, vital in
professional environments where confidential data must be kept secure.
To date, 256 bit encryption is the highest level of security compliant
with the Advanced Encryption Standard.
Developed for use within professional environments such as medical
and legal audiences, Olympus says its professional dictation range
encompasses features to support workflow, cost savings and efficiency.
Features such as a bar code scanner to support medical dictation
and biometric fingerprint scanner (DS-5000 ID model) to ensure
dictations don’t fall into the wrong hands, help to provide necessary
support for these heavy dictation environments.
Following the launch of the DS-7000, Olympus has developed a
firmware update to enable professional dictation models to be
compatible with the highest 256 bit encryption security.
This means that existing and potential users are able to upgrade
their current DS-5000 and DS-5000iD devices to record in 256-bit
encryption due to backwards compatibility until an upgrade to the new
DS-7000 can be made. The latest version of DSS Player Pro is required
to cater for the new encryption standard. The new DS-7000 and
DS-3500 are 256 bit encryption ready out of the box.
10 IPHONE PRIZES UP FOR GRABS TO SUPPORT EUROPA SALES
COMPETITION ExaClair Limited has launched a prize draw campaign to support dealers and retailers and to further stimulate sales of the Europa books, pads and filing products. End-users can win one of 10 iPhone 4S handsets with every purchase from the Europa range.
James Mead, sales and marketing director, says ExaClair hopes to repeat the success of its 2011 campaign: “Last year’s prize draw prompted almost 8,000 entries and drove up sales for dealers, and this year we hope to build on that strong foundation of consumer awareness around the Europa brand.”
The competition closes 31 October 2012
SUBSCRIBE NOW AND GET 12 MONTHS FREEDon’t risk missing out on the latest industry news, business advice and dealer interviews by making sure you register for your free subscription to Dealer Support today. Already subscribed? Contact us to renew your subscription in good time
*TERMS & CONDITIONSIn order to qualify for a free subscription, the recipient must be a director, manager, proprietor and/or buyer in dealers, wholesalers and distributors supplying office products, individuals manufacturing office products, and other individuals with purchasing authority in the UK or Ireland. For those who do not qualify there is a £68 annual fee. For details or to subscribe, contact Natalia Johnston on [email protected], +44 (0)20 7288 6833 or visit www.dealersupport.com/subscribe/
SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND RECEIVE...
:: INDUSTRY NEWS THE LATEST NEWS, TRENDS AND GOINGS ON IN OFFICE PRODUCTS
:: PEOPLE NEWS FIND OUT HOW OTHERS ARE FARING AND LEARN FROM THEIR EXPERIENCES
:: MANAGEMENT ADVICE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO RUN YOUR BUSINESS
CALL: 020 7288 6833EMAIL: [email protected]: www.dealersupport.co.uk/subscribe/
June 2011 Issue 192
INS
PIR
ING
BU
SIN
ES
S S
OLU
TION
S FO
R D
EA
LER
S
BRAND POWERAre brands best?SPICE OF LIFEAlan Ball opens up
CREAM OF THE CROPIDS winners revealed
July 2011 Issue 193
INS
PIR
ING
BU
SIN
ES
S S
OLU
TION
S FO
R D
EA
LER
S
HEAD IN THE CLOUD
Low-down on cloud computing
HOME MADE
UK manufacturing in the spotlight
IDS LEAGUE 2011
Analysis: part one
01_DS_July11.indd 1
12/07/2011 11:33
DS_Generic Subs_ad.indd 2 02/03/2012 11:52
USP
MARKETPLACE PRODUCT UPDATE 05
JULY 2012
A TURN UP FOR THE BOOKS
Organisation remains a huge challenge for
many professionals, whose time is constantly
at a premium. While some have adopted
electronic devices to govern their schedules,
there are still many who favour traditional
solutions. The ease of use of flicking through
a page and quickly adding or erasing an
appointment is still a huge driving factor for
diary sales. In addition to this, traditional
paper products are still used en masse for
accounting purposes, particularly for SMEs,
and quality pads are a constant need for any
office-based business.
PUT IT IN THE DIARYOne of the key areas for diary and planner
sales is the academic year, with students
keen to get ahead of their busy workloads
and plan their assignments. There is
traditionally a seasonal peak in academic
planner sales, with highs in late July and
August as students and parents prepare their
back-to-school investments.
Different customers will be looking for
varying content from their diaries. Students
may look for products that include key dates
highlighted, important phone numbers,
personal information pages, or more specific
information, such as a scientific periodic
table for reference. Business people might
be keen on a diary that includes information
such as international dialling codes or world
time differences.
Given the personal nature of a diary
or planner, it allows consumers the
opportunity for some individuality. While
a senior executive of a company may want
a plain, simple diary, a young student will
most likely be swayed more towards a
colourful and vibrant product, one that
reflects their personality or even a planner
that they can personalise. Younger pupils
may want products that are designed
around the latest craze in music or film.
Unit costs of diaries and planners may
be relatively low, but there are some easy
There is still a healthy market and decent margins for quality books and pads.
GEORGE CAREY looks at the opportunities these products represent for dealers
MARKETPLACE PRODUCT UPDATE
USP JULY 2012
06
A standard account book can be expected to retail for much more than notebooks and deliver an excellent margin for a dealer
cross-selling opportunities for dealers to
consider. Given that organisation is the
key to sales in this area, there may be
scope to sell divider labels for easy access
to pages, or colour-coding stickers that
can be used to differentiate the various
appointment topics, such as client meetings,
personal appointments or key dates. Also
there is scope to offer customers pens for
writing in or colour-coding their planners.
Conversations about diaries could lead nicely
into a discussion about products, such as
wall or desktop calendars and planners, to
complete customers’ organisational demands,
and, of course, the beauty of all these
products is the need for annual renewal,
meaning on-going sales opportunities.
PADDING IT OUTPukka Pads does a lot of work with schools
and has recently launched a new range of
pads with activities for children as young
as three. It’s a new area for the company
and one that it used a consultative
approach to create, working with children
from a local school. Pukka Pads’s MD and
owner, Chris Stott, said: “Working with the
children from Hamworthy Middle School
has been invaluable. Their imagination
and creativity has allowed us to produce a
new brand that has vibrant pages, loveable
characters and a variety of activities that
will keep children interested, motivated
and aid them in their learning.”
HOLDING TO ACCOUNTAccounting books are still a profitable
area of sales for dealers, as Kevin
Wharton, marketing manager for office
products at ExaClair points out: “Whilst
it cannot be denied that the growing use
of electronic accounting software has had
an inevitable impact on the book market
within the accounting sector and volumes
are not as high as they once were, there is
still a higher perceived value in account
books than in many other products and
justifiably so.” He continues: “A standard
account book with three or four cash
columns on each page can be expected to
retail for much more than notebooks and
deliver an excellent margin for a dealer.”
Another advantage for dealers is the
strong brand loyalty often displayed by
customers when purchasing accounting
products. Many users choose to purchase
the same products that they have always
used and continue to invest in familiar,
high quality brands. Wharton comments:
“An established and well-respected
brand such as Guildhall, which has been
producing a comprehensive selection
of account books with various rulings
available on ledger quality paper since the
1800s, will continue to attract and impress
customers and earn their loyalty.”
There is always a strong demand for
well-designed high quality notebooks and
pads for general use. Many customers feel
that the right notepad can complete their
look for an important client meeting and
wouldn’t dream of walking into such a
meeting with a scrappy looking notepad.
There is a huge range of products to
consider in the market and a range of
uses that they still perform for customers.
It is important for dealers to offer an
ever-changing range to reflect customers
evolving taste and requirements, whether
it be a an activity book for three-year-olds
or a an accounting book for a
small business.
USP
MARKETPLACE PRODUCT UPDATE 07
JULY 2012
HIGH ROLLERS SPOTYA
USP JULY 2012
08
SALESPERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD 2012USP’s Salesperson of the Year Award returns. The third nominee for 2012’s SPOTYA competition comes from Fellowes in the shape of Danny Young, commercial manager at Heatons Office Solutions.
SPONSOR: FELLOWESFellowes offers an extensive range of products to equip the workspace, including paper shredders, binders, laminators, desktop accessories and record storage solutions. Founded in 1917 by Harry Fellowes and headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, Fellowes employs more than 1,200 people throughout the world and has operations in 15 countries.
NOMINATION: DANNY YOUNG Danny Youngs is the commercial manager at Heatons Complete Office Solutions with sales account responsibility for a number of its major customers. He has demonstrated a real drive and determination to grow his sales and margins, and has used Fellowes marketing and promotional tools to make it happen. Not just focused on one product category, Young has worked with Fellowes on its Professor Ergo campaign, embracing the concept of using workstation assessments to develop new sales opportunities, as well as various marketing campaigns.
This months USP’s Salesperson of the Year Award nominee is sponsored by:
S POTYA
USP
HIGH ROLLERS SPOTYA
JULY 2012
09
Tell us about your background.
During my A-levels, I took a part-time job in
retail that quickly spiralled into a management
role and gave me the experience to move on
to a position within the Criminal Records
Bureau as an executive officer. Four years and
a promotion later I took a job in Heatons as an
account manager and progressed through the
ranks into the role I have today.
Can you describe your role?
I manage a sales team consisting of internal
and external staff along with my own portfolio
of company accounts, turning over upwards of
£700K per annum. I also look after all of the
company marketing and am working towards
creating a more impressive corporate image.
Why are you in sales?
It was a role I fell into due to an ambiguous
“account manager” job title, but since then
I’ve never looked back. The role is very diverse
making no two days the same and the buzz of
opening a new account or getting that big order
really adds to the job satisfaction.
What’s your best achievement in this job?
I think it would be setting up our print and
workwear departments a few years back. They
have added close to two million in turnover
and have really added to the overall service
that we offer to our customers.
What’s your best piece of sales advice?
Try not to come across like a salesperson.
The second people feel like they are being
sold to, they put up barriers that are
sometimes hard to break down. If you just
be yourself, you are more likely to earn their
trust and make it easier for them to deal
with you going forward.
Describe how you feel about the nomination.
It has genuinely come as a nice surprise. I’ve
never been nominated for anything like this
before so I feel quite honoured to have been
chosen and hopefully this means I’m moving
in the right direction.
Why do you believe you should win
this award?
This is probably the hardest question to
answer. I honestly believe that I put 100%
into everything I do which in turn has bred
success on a professional level. I always try
to set a good example for my colleagues
and winning something like this would be
testament to that.
SALESPERSON OF THE YEAR AWARD 2012
“Danny’s professional and friendly approach makes sure that his customers know that he will respond to any enquiry and help to find a solution to any request.”
VITAL STATS
NAME: Danny Young
TITLE: Commercial manager
COMPANY: Heatons Office Solutions
Richard Monk, national account manager, Fellowes
S POTYA
USP JULY 2012
10 COLD CALLINGSALES ACADEMY
Leading sales expert Andy
Preston explains the problems of outsourcing your cold calling, and what to watch
out for if you’re determined to
outsource
THINKING OF OUTSOURCING
YOUR COLD CALLING?
READ THIS FIRST!
USP
11
JULY 2012
COLD CALLINGSALES ACADEMY
1. THEY DON’T WANT TO DO IT
THEMSELVES
Not a great reason, but because they
have to do it themselves, they’re
looking to avoid it.
2. THEY DON’T HAVE COLD CALLING
EXPERTISE WITHIN THEIR TEAM
They’re thinking of outsourcing because
they’re concerned that they’ll have to
get one of their team to do it who isn’t
a natural salesperson, and isn’t looking
forward to the prospect of doing it
either. This isn’t a great reason to do it.
3. THEY THINK BY OUTSOURCING IT
OR GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT,
IT GETS RID OF THE PROBLEM
There may well be one, or a
combination of two, of the above
reasons here. Either way, at the moment
the sales call issue (or lack of them) has
become a problem in the business and
by outsourcing it, they think they’re
getting rid of the problem. This isn’t a
great reason either.
Recently I’ve been asked by a number of small and micro business owners how best they should outsource their cold calling. Their thinking behind doing this is normally one of three reasons:
1 – Consider where they’re going to work from.
Is the person you’re outsourcing your calling to
going to work from a business premises? Their
home? Your business premises? Your home?
How are you going to handle call costs?
2 – How do their calls fit into your sales process?
In other words, what is the outcome of the
call? Is it a meeting? A conference call? A web
demonstration? How is it moving the sales
process forward? What is the next step after
that – you don’t want lots of pointless meetings.
3 – How are you going to pay them?
Percentage of sale basis? Payment per hour?
These methods have their benefits and pitfalls
and will affect the type of outsourcer you
should go for. A typical example I see often is a
small business owner tries to convince someone
to do their calls for them and expects the person
to do it for just a percentage if the business
owner makes a sale from that appointment. That
rarely works, if ever.
4 – How are you going to manage them?
Even if you’re outsourcing your calls to
a company, you still need to manage the
organisation and the person making the calls. In
addition to that, what do you consider under-
performance? Do the outsourced organisation
and/or the individual have the same
perceptions? What are your expectations of
success on this project? Have they been clearly
communicated to all parties involved?
5 – How well do you know the person?
Are they someone you’ve known for a while?
Or just someone employed by a telemarketing
organisation you’re talking to? What’s this
person’s reputation? Their experience? Their
knowledge of your market sector and the
people they’ll be calling? How much do they
know about you and your company? What do
other people say about them and their work?
6 – What training are you giving them?
What training are you giving the person? If
they’re from an outsourced company, they may
well have had some sales training in-house – but
it will only be delivered by their manager (not an
experienced trainer) and if they’re an individual
they probably haven’t done any for ages – not a
good sign! What training are you planning to give
them on your products and services?
7 – Who are they going to be calling?
In other words, where are they going to get their
prospects from? Do you have a list of prospects
on your CRM system or database that you want
them to contact? Are you going to purchase
some data to give them some leads to work on?
Are they using their own data? Have you got
unlimited rights to contact the data in future?
8 – How long do you want them to
work for?
If you can only cope with a certain number
of additional appointments per week, it might
not make sense to employ someone on a full-
time basis. If they’re starting to make more
appointments for you than you can cope with
then perhaps it’s time to spend more time on
sales, or hire a full-time salesperson to make the
calls and do the appointments for you?
9 – How well do you understand the process?
You still need to be responsible for this process
and as an old manager said to me many
years ago you can’t manage what you don’t
understand. What’s your experience with
making sales calls and cold calls? Is it enough
to support and direct an outsourcer that’s not
delivering the results you want? Or are you just
going to blame that company for not delivering
and kiss goodbye to your investment in them?
Follow the tips above and you’ll avoid most
of the problems involved with outsourcing
your calls.
If you are going to outsource the calls, here are some things to think about:
Many small business owners are far too
quick to outsource their cold calling or
sales calls just to get rid of the problem
of making the calls themselves, or
giving them to a colleague who doesn’t
really want to do them. Just because
it’s easy to outsource the calls, doesn’t
necessarily mean it’s the right decision.
FACTYou can outsource
the activity, but you
can’t outsource the
responsibility
USP
LIVE IT The best way to spend your free time and money
12
JULY 2012
PENSIONERS The world’s oldest triathlete has just completed another one, at the age of 91. Arthur Gilbert, from Burnham-on-Sea, goes to the gym three times a week, swims 50 lengths every day and cycles 25 miles each Sunday. He has been crowned British duathlon champion seven times for his age group and also carried the Olympic torch in May this year. As if that wasn’t enough, he has been awarded an MBE for his contributions to charity.
GOOD
BAD
TOTAL RECALLThis month sees the re-release of an Arnold Schwarzenegger classic, no, that’s not an oxymoron. Total Recall has everything you could want from an Arnie film: guns; a ludicrous plot; aliens; guns; incredible feats of strength; atrocious acting; and guns. Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) fantasizes of travelling to Mars and visits Rekall, a company that can implant memories of a virtual holiday. When the memory implant goes awry, Quaid’s whole life is bought into question and he’s pulled into a world of espionage, mutant rebels and martian hijinks. Pre-CGI special effects, including the excruciating removal of a tracking chip and weird and wonderful prosthetics, add to the enjoyment and make you yearn for simpler times. They say that sci-fi films reflect the time they were made in more than the one they depict, and this is dripping in glorious early 90s tackiness. Will he find the girl from his dreams and save Mars? You’d better get down to the cinema to find out.
THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM
FILM
MUSIC
PUB QUIZ FUN
BIT OF BANTER
New Jersey rockers The Gaslight Anthem release their third studio album this month: Handwritten. Having received critical acclaim this album has been highly anticipated, and doesn’t disappoint. Frontman Brian Fallon has described the songs on the album as “pretty personal and pretty aggressive”. The album was recorded in Nashville and is coated in southern-fried goodness, evoking memories of the town’s legendary rock and roll past. They can be seen this summer at Reading and Leeds Festivals and supporting Soundgarden on their European tour.Released 24 July
Q1. What colour does acid turn Litmus paper?
Q2. What’s the largest Scandinavian country?
Q3. What was the name of the Benedictine monk who legend has it invented Champagne?
Q4. Who holds the record as being Britain’s youngest ever Formula 1 Driver?
Q5. Which land did Puff The Magic Dragon live in?
Q6. In the USA what name was given to a seller of illegal alcohol?
Q7. In mythology what was minerva the Goddess of?
Q8. In the movies who plays the role of Harry Potter?
HEY, CHECK IT OUT:
I HAVE THE CHICKEN POX!
Released 6 July
CARTHIEVES A Chinese car thief has been arrested after giving a policeman a ride on his bonnet. He received a 12-month sentence after refusing to stop for two policemen at a checkpoint in Xuancheng City, east China. Undeterred by one policeman’s presence blocking his path, he hit the accelerator, taking the unlucky officer with him. His time on the run finished when a passing SUV blocked the highway. The driver had removed the car’s license plates to avoid being identified but ironically it was the plate’s absence that drew the officer’s attention.
Ans
wer
s: A
1. R
ed A
2. S
wed
en A
3. D
om P
erig
non
A4.
Jen
sen
But
ton
A5.
Hon
alee
A6.
Boo
tleg
ger
A7.
Dan
iel R
adcl
iffe
SAVE THE DATE!
Pioneer Challenge
17-28 September 2012
The challengeCycle one or more of the stages from Aberdeen to Brighton (each stage is around 85 miles) The charityBreakthrough Breast Cancer, dedicated to saving lives by finding the causes of breast cancer, improving detection, diagnosis, treatment and services
The dates 17-28 September
How to enterPlease go to www.dealersupport.co.uk to find out more about the challenge, dates, cycle routes, setting up a donation page, logistics and cycle support, then email [email protected] with your choice of date/s.
With the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games coming up this summer, this year is undeniably a year of sporting achievement. If you’re feeling left out of the fun, here’s your chance to do something good for yourself and others.
Dealer Support magazine is partnering with Antalis McNaughton and Pioneer Paper to take on the Pioneer Challenge 2012, to get the office supplies industry on their bikes in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
Taking place from 17 to 28 September, the goal of Pioneer Challenge is to have 20 riders on each of the 10 stages of the relay. If every rider can raise around £100, with all the expected participants we will blow the £20,000 figure of last year.
ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE?
FLIP H
ERE FOR Y
OUR USUAL
COPY OF